


A Dream/A Nightmare

by QueenKara671



Series: Of Children and Chess Pieces [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: :), Clay | Dream and DreamXD are different people, Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Demonic Possession, Dreamon DreamXD, Dreamons, Gen, Human Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), I would never, Manipulation, Possession, Well - Freeform, but for plot i must prevail, but tbh hes too far gone so, dont worry, he is more of a moron and less evil in this, i hate calling dream by his real name it makes me feel icky, its only a little for the first two sections, mama puffy, mostly - Freeform, prison break - Freeform, technically, this is not me being a Dream apologist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29329656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenKara671/pseuds/QueenKara671
Summary: “This proposal of yours… it will help me protect my friends?” He asked.The dreamon smiled. “You’ll have the power to protect the people you care about, just like I promised."---Clay makes a deal. Snapshots of how Dream deals with the aftermath.(Prologue to the rest of this series)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & DreamXD, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Of Children and Chess Pieces [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154291
Comments: 14
Kudos: 117





	A Dream/A Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> As stated in the summary, this fic is effectively the prologue for this series, so be sure if you're reading the whole series to read this first!  
> Could definitely be read as a standalone, though, if you're good with cliffhangers.

“This proposal of yours… it will help me protect my friends?” He asked.

The dreamon smiled. “You’ll have the power to protect the people you care about, just like I promised. You called on my name, after all. Us dreamons can’t go back on our deals.”

“And in return?” The blond didn’t look quite convinced.

“In return, I’ll get to see the world through your eyes. It’s quite boring in the Nether, you know.” DreamXD would have smirked, if he had truly had a mouth. Unfortunately, his facial features we nothing but a simple black and white smiley face, but perhaps that was helpful when making deals like this. “I’ll even offer you advice. Really, child--”

“I’m not a child.” 

“--there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Now that was a lie, of course. He was sure even the teen in front of him--what was his name, Clay?--could sense that, on some level.

Of course, it was commonly believed that dreamons couldn’t lie, but that wasn’t exactly true. They could lie as much as they want, as long as it didn’t break their deal. Half-truths were more than fair game.

“Nothing else? Nothing else at all?”

“Well, you could take some homage to my name, of course. But that’d really be more for your benefit than mine!”

Clay squinted. “How is that for my benefit?”

“Dreamons are powerful beings. It’ll bring you an extra sense of authority with your opponents on whatever battlefield you might be facing.”

There was a pause. DreamXD could practically feel the teen running the calculations in his head.

“...Fine. I accept your conditions, DreamXD. In return for giving me the power to protect the people I care about, I’ll allow you to inhabit my mind, and I’ll take a name in your image.”

“Sounds perfect,  **Dream** .”

* * *

“Clay, are you alright?” Sapnap asked. His friend had been acting weird. First he disappeared for weeks, and now he returned, wearing… whatever the hell he had on his face. Some kind of mask, but why the smiley face?

George voiced similar thoughts out loud, continuing, “Honestly, where the hell have you been, Clay?--”

“It’s Dream now.” Their masked friend interrupted. “And I’ve been doing important things.”

Sapnap sputtered. “What do you mean, ‘It’s Dream now’? Wh- We’re worried about you, man! You’ve been acting weird as hell, you just got back from wherever the hell you were, Puffy was worried sick about her ‘duckling’, and now you’re just- you-” He cut himself off and sighed. 

Dream seemed to soften, at that. He seemed to be having a debate with himself--his friends had known him long enough to know his mannerisms, and he had tensed up, almost like he had been caught in a lie, but not quite. Finally he spoke. “I promise you I’m fine. I just had to do something, okay? It’s… It’ll help protect all of us. You two, Mom, Sam, Alyssa, Callahan, Ponk, Bad and Skeppy… Okay, those last two don’t need much protecting, but still.” He laughed a little, not his full-on wheeze but enough to relax his best friends a bit. “Just… I’d prefer if you two called me Dream now.”

Sapnap and George glanced at each other. “...Alright.” George responded. “But the mask’s gonna take some getting used to, C--Dream. What were you even doing the past couple weeks, anyways?”

Dream smiled to himself--to DreamXD under the mask. “Oh, it’s not important.”

* * *

Dream punched the tree. Dammit, he hadn’t expected that stupid experiment to actually do something! He had played along, of course, for the Dreamon Hunters’ sake. But now… He cried out, thankful that he was in the middle of a forest, far away from any other members of the server. He couldn’t hear DreamXD’s voice, which meant that he didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to protect his friends, what if this meant the deal was off, he was so totally screwed, oh Prime--

“Relax, Dream. They didn’t get rid of me.”

Dream spun around, the familiar “face” of DreamXD filling his vision. He stumbled back, which seemed to amuse the dreamon.

“Wha… didn’t they exorcise you?”

“Why, did you hope they had?” The dreamon’s tone was light, but there was a threat in there somewhere.

“No, no, of course not!” Dream quickly reassured him. “I was worried! I thought you were gone, that the deal was off, that our power was gone, or…” He trailed off.

“Oh, did you seriously think they’d be able to kill me? How weak do you think I am,  **Dream** , honestly.” There was an emphasis on his name _~~not his name not his name~~_ that he wasn’t sure he liked.

The dreamon continued. “It’s awfully annoying, though. I’m no longer in your head. Still tied to you, and our _deal_ ,” he seemed especially annoyed by that part, “but I can no longer offer you guidance at all times. You’ll have to make your own way, Dreamy.”

“But--you promised--”

“Ah ah ah, I’ll still help you, of course. I just can’t be there every second of the day, and I won’t be able to get you out of every sticky situation. Remember the Railway Skirnish? The fact that I was able to get you out of there without you losing a life is honestly shocking. A shame that those annoying brats were able to get their hands on your items.”

Dream frowned under the mask. “Tommy and Tubbo aren’t brats.”

“Tell me, have they done anything but cause trouble on our server?” The dreamon glared at him, and, as guilty as Dream felt, he had to agree.

“That’s what I thought. This ‘L’manberg’ thing they’ve started with Wilbur? It’s only going to cause problems, Dream.”

“You’re the one who told me to trade L’manberg’s independence for the discs.”

“I did, yes. And I don’t regret that decision. Long-term, the discs will be fair more important. L’manberg… we’ll have to deal with some way.”

“I really don’t see much wrong with it. They’re just having fun with their  _ drug country _ .” He snorted at the last sentence, but DreamXD seemed irritated.

“Of course, Dream, it’s not important to you if Wilbur is off doing his own thing with his brothers. But first you lose them, and then you lose other people on the server, and then next thing you know George and Sapnap are off doing Prime-knows-what, without you and our protection. And if they’re not with us, not under our control, you know we can’t reliably take care of them, Dream. Don’t you want to keep your friends safe?”

Dream nodded grimly. “Of course I do. And you’re right, as always. But what am I supposed to do?”

“Do what you’re best at, Dream.” The dreamon smirked. “Wait for the opportunity and seize it. Their little country will go up in flames, mark my words. We’ll find a way.”

* * *

Dream sat alone in the prison. How long had it been? He didn’t remember. He had the clock, but he had long since given up on counting the days. DreamXD was off doing something. “Preparing an escape,” he had said. He wondered when the dreamon would return.

Ironically, almost as soon as he had had the thought, the being in question spoke. “I’m back, Dreamy!”

He rolled his eyes behind the mask--he had refused to let Sam take it from him, even if he was supposed to be “complying” while DreamXD prepared. Having a dreamon possess him for so long had some… permanent effects on his appearance, and if the evidence was discovered there could be disastrous consequences. 

“Took you long enough.” He muttered. “What have you been doing, anyways?” 

The dreamon laughed. “Preparing an escape, like I said!”

“You can literally teleport me out of here at any time. You have admin power.”

“And then your friends would put you right back in here, and they would know about me, too. But relax! I’ve found us… an assistant.”

“Assistant? Anyone I know?” He questioned.

“Only a little, but he knows you. He’ll probably take a bit of convincing, but he’s come to visit you before. He’ll help us reclaim what’s ours.”

He jumped to his feet. “Well, take me to him, then!”

The dreamon reached out what he assumed was supposed to be a hand, and Dream grabbed it firmly. With a flash, they were gone, reappearing outside of an area he knew, though there seemed to be some changes from his last visit. He glanced at DreamXD.

“Relax, Techno and Phil aren’t here right now. Go on, he’s in that house over there.” The dreamon pointed.

Dream knocked on the door, almost playfully. A voice shouted from inside. “Please go away! Unless you’re Techno or Phil! In which case I was expecting you to get back later, but whatever!” 

He knocked harder. Footsteps approached the door nervously, before turning the knob. The young hybrid opened his mouth to speak, before freezing, the color draining from his face. Dream grinned.

“Hello, Ranboo. May I come in?”


End file.
